KITCHENER -- Ontario's Special Investigations Unit says there was no criminal liability for Waterloo regional police after a man fractured his hand in a cell last month.
The incident occurred on Oct. 20. According to the SIU, a 32-year-old man was arrested on two counts of breaching an undertaking. He was taken to the police station and held in a cell.
Officials say he appeared in weekend and statutory holiday court the next day and was taken back to his cell, where he slapped a stainless steel sink/toilet in his cell, fracturing his right hand.
SIU Director Joseph Martino said officials reviewed video from the cell and found "there is patently nothing further to investigate as far as the potential criminal liability of any police officer is concerned in connection with the man’s injury."
"The evidence establishes that the man, and he alone, is responsible for what was a self-inflicted injury. In the circumstances, the investigation is hereby discontinued and the file is closed," he said in a news release.
The SIU is a civilian agency that investigations reports of death, serious injury or allegations of sexual assault involving police officers in Ontario.
